Faced with Ziqing’s demand for answers, Hongyi’s smile only grew more suggestive, and she exaggeratedly covered her face, peeking timidly at Ziqing.

A bit dramatic, perhaps, but last night really had been Prince Yao — that cold, naturally stern Prince Yao — and it truly, truly had been a kiss!

Hongyi had replayed it in her mind several times already and still couldn’t help her heart racing. How was she supposed to explain this to her mistress?

“Are you going to tell me or not!” Ziqing snapped, the unease in her chest steadily expanding.

Perhaps it was simply genuine happiness for her mistress, but Hongyi kept smiling anyway, unafraid of Ziqing’s temper.

She wasn’t a fool — she understood well enough that her mistress wasn’t untouched. To put it plainly, a man as fastidious as Prince Yao would surely care about that. And Hongyi had always known that since her mistress arrived at the Prince Yao estate, he had never once touched her.

All of it traced back to that nightmare, that night of ruined purity.

But last night, that raw, doting display — everyone had seen it clearly. Prince Yao had been like a beast gone wild, radiating an air of lethal intensity.

How many women in this world would go mad for that, would want it desperately, would gladly die for it?

She and Physician Gu and the others had been shouted out of the tent, and after that, everything that happened inside needed no further explanation.

When she’d been called back in, her mistress’s face had been flushed with that particular blush unique to a woman who’d just known a man’s touch. She’d looked closely — Prince Yao had personally changed her mistress into fresh clothes before leaving.

Such a domineering, high-handed man, and yet he had a side so considerate!

“Miss, come here,” Hongyi finally said, low, gesturing for Ziqing to come closer.

Ziqing’s brow was drawn tight — if she hadn’t been so desperate to know what had happened last night, she’d surely have already thrown Hongyi out.

She leaned her head down close to Hongyi’s face — and in an instant, her serious little expression underwent a sudden, dramatic shift, turning ashen at once!

But Hongyi hadn’t noticed yet, hurrying to step back and bow deeply in proper ceremony. “Congratulations, Your Highness! Many congratulations!”

Ziqing might not know it, but Hongyi understood perfectly well — by custom, when a princess entered the household, her consummation would happen on the first night, and the next day her personal maid would check for the telltale bloodstain and report it to the palace.

And this congratulation was exactly the kind offered upon confirming that stain!

Only after such a confirmation could this woman truly, properly be called Prince Yao’s woman.

But there had been no blood — and yet Hongyi’s congratulations rang so sincere, so deeply respectful. Why?

Ziqing understood these customs perfectly well herself — no one knew that she’d long ago thoroughly researched the imperial family’s traditions, especially the particulars concerning a bride’s chastity.

Hongyi looked up, delighted, only now noticing the ashen, bluish tinge on Ziqing’s face. Her smile froze at once. What was wrong?

To her surprise, Ziqing simply gave a faint smile. “Silly Hongyi, why such a formal bow? There was no blood.”

“But His Highness…” Hongyi began explaining at once — but before she could finish, Ziqing already understood!

His Highness had claimed her regardless. No bloodstain was needed. He’d married her, pushed through everyone’s objections to marry her, and now they’d consummated the marriage — what more was a bloodstain worth?

The palace’s customs were the palace’s business. Who would dare demand that mark of Prince Yao?

Seeing Hongyi’s reaction, Ziqing couldn’t help but draw a sharp breath. This girl! This girl understood everything!

The pain she’d kept buried in her heart, the worry she’d carried all along — Hongyi understood it all completely!

“Miss, now that the marriage is truly consummated, you’re really and truly Prince Yao’s woman. Why keep worrying so much? His Highness doesn’t care — he only cares about you!” Hongyi urged quickly.

Everyone called her mistress a broken shoe — but what was a broken shoe, really, but a woman cast aside by another man? Her mistress wasn’t that!

That night of ruined purity had been a misunderstanding, a conspiracy — it hadn’t been something her mistress had ever wanted.

“Miss, believe me, His Highness truly did… last night… Physician Gu and Yingzi were both there, they saw it all. His Highness truly, truly cares for you! It’s true!”

Hongyi kept insisting. This should have been cause for pure celebration, and yet her mistress still hadn’t smiled once.

“Hongyi, you’ve always known too… you’ve always known he’d never touch me.” Ziqing said it with a smile, though somehow the words came out so bitterly humble — humble enough to bury herself in the dirt!

Why should she want him to touch her? It wasn’t as if she couldn’t live without him! Wasn’t it just… that she cared, just a little?

“But he did touch you, didn’t he?” Hongyi, too, threw caution aside entirely. “Miss, never mind this servant — anyone who knows about that night of ruined purity knows that you two—”

“Everyone knows he’d never consummate the marriage with me.” Ziqing said this with startling calm.

Hongyi gritted her teeth and nodded firmly. “At least, everyone who knows the truth knows that.”

Then she added, “But you have now, Miss! Trust me, I wouldn’t be mistaken about this. His Highness truly cares for you — if he didn’t before, he certainly does now. I’ve served him for so many years, and I’ve never once seen him this flustered over anyone! You genuinely frightened him last night!”

Why wasn’t her mistress happy — was it because she didn’t believe it?

Ziqing looked at Hongyi and still smiled — but this smile carried nothing but a kind of resigned gratitude, no real joy at all.

“Miss, what’s wrong… don’t tell me… you truly don’t like His Highness?” Hongyi asked timidly.

Ziqing didn’t answer, lowering her head to look at her own clean, undisturbed nightclothes, and said flatly, “Hongyi, you may go. I’m tired. I’d like to rest a while longer.”

“Miss… His Highness really did—”

Hongyi still wanted to defend Jun Beiyue, but Ziqing waved a hand to cut her off, gesturing for her to leave.

What should have been such a joyous occasion — how had it turned into this? Hongyi fretted, but had no choice but to withdraw. If anyone tried to convince her that her mistress truly didn’t care about His Highness, she’d never believe it — not for a moment.

Yet just as Hongyi reached the door, Ziqing suddenly spoke again, flatly. “Hongyi…”

Hongyi froze at once, her heart skipping a beat. “Yes!”

“Silly Hongyi, you’ve got it wrong. He only helped me change my clothes. He never touched me at all.” Ziqing said this, slowly lifting her head, and her pale little face slowly bloomed into a devastatingly beautiful smile — one that could not hide the depth of its pain.

Hongyi froze completely, unable to process this for a long moment.

Ziqing kept smiling. Perhaps, without Hongyi’s congratulations, without everything Hongyi had just described about last night, her heart wouldn’t have ached so much, so terribly.

But in that instant, a wave of bitterness surged up all at once, drowning her heart completely.

Whether or not he’d touched her, drunk or not, wasn’t something a woman herself would fail to know?

In the end, she couldn’t fool herself. She truly did care.

But, at the same time, the reality was so cruel — things had gone that far last night, clothes had fallen in pieces on the floor, and still, he hadn’t touched her.

When had she, Han Ziqing, sunk so low as to long for a man’s tenderness?

Was this still even her?

Suddenly, Ziqing lifted her head to look at Hongyi. “Hongyi, I want to leave!”

Kill Jun Beiyao, and then leave — get far away from that man!